Dharamsala, Feb 27: Making full use of the opportunities, Shreyas Iyer was breathing down Suryakumar Yadav’s neck as India completed a clean sweep with consummate ease, beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third and final T20 International here on Sunday.
The Indian team’s last three T20 home series against New Zealand, West Indies and now Sri Lanka have ended in identical 3-0 margins.
Chasing a target of 147, it was a walk in the park for Shreyas, who smashed 73 not out off 45 balls to complete the chase in 16.5 overs after Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj enjoyed a brilliant run in the powerplay overs.
Shreyas had a rubber to remember with a hat-trick of half-centuries, an aggregate of 200 runs that fetched him the Player-of-the-Series Award.
Shreyas is fighting for one elusive middle-order spot with Suryakumar, who was the Player of the Series against the West Indies before sustaining a hairline fracture on his right hand.
Also, skipper Rohit Sharma became the most capped player in T20 Internationals with 125 games, one more than Pakistan’s ageless wonder, Shoaib Malik.
It was a ‘Super Subs’ day out with India making four changes in the playing XI, including Ishan Kishan due to concussion.
Avesh made amends for a forgettable debut as his scorching opening spell alongside Mohammed Siraj put the Sri Lankans on the back foot straightaway, as both made full use of the pace and bounce on offer on the Dharamsala track.
Even the two wrist spinners, Ravi Bishnoi (4-0-32-1) and Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-25-0), did well enough to bottle up the islanders on a chilly night.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka was once again the saviour with a 74 not out off 38 balls that took his team close to 150-run mark. Shanaka hit nine fours and two sixes.
But it was Avesh (4-1-23-2) and Siraj (4-0-22-1), who just dismantled the Lankan top-order with pace and bounce, as they were reduced to 11 for 3 in the fourth over and there was no coming back from there.
Siraj started it by hurrying Danushka Gunathilaka (0) with a short ball which he tried to pull but only managed to drag back onto the stumps.
Avesh, who went for 40 odd runs on debut on a Eden Gardens belter, bowled much fuller from his usual back-of-length stuff and sent back Pathum Nissanka (1) and Charith Asalanka (4), both deliveries hitting the bat faster than the two batters could have comprehended. (PTI)
